Field
Aspects of the present invention generally relate to an information processing apparatus that can be accessed by external devices.
Description of the Related Art
In recent years, with the advancement of imaging forming apparatus, a low-priced image forming apparatus has come to include network functions as standard. Opportunities of using such apparatus in a network environment have increased not only in large offices but in small offices and at home.
A Web browser running on a personal computer (PC) can display, via a network, statuses and settings of the image forming apparatus that is connected to the network. A user interface displayed on the Web browser is called a remote user interface (remote UI or RUI) while a user interface (UI) equipped in the image forming apparatus is called a local UI (LUI).
While large offices normally assign network administration staff or the like to implement security measures, the security measures in small offices or average households may not be sufficient. In a case where an image forming apparatus without sufficient security control is connected to the network, since an RUI can be accessed from external access and operated, a problem such as leakage of confidential information may occur.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-178830 discusses a technique for improving security in which secondary authentication is performed in addition to a normal one on an account that the account owner has not accessed for a long time (for example, an account of an employee on a long business trip or an employee who has left a company).
Image forming apparatuses conventionally have a capability to set a password that is used in authentication against external access via a network. Some image forming apparatuses have an access management function including a mode for setting a department identification (ID) and a password for identifying which department is accessing the image forming apparatus. In addition to such a function, in the mode of the department ID management, privileges to execute specific functions (for example, copying, sending a fax, and so on) can be restricted or the number of output or transmitted pages can be counted for each department ID.
In a case where the mode of department ID management is set, an image forming apparatus can be seen as protected with security measures. In this state, imposing additional authentication on the external access is redundant and hence undermines user convenience. Besides, such a problem is not limited to image forming apparatus alone, but exists in various other information processing apparatus that can communicate with external devices.